


Paper roll magic

by mckvch (RaiseYourVoice)



Series: Saphael Winter Tales [13]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Bane Chronicles - Sarah Rees Brennan & Cassandra Clare & Maureen Johnson, The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Canon Compliant, Christmas Decorations, Flirting, Hotel Dumort, Jewish Character, M/M, Pet Names, Pre-Relationship, Raphael Speaks Spanish, Religious Content (briefly), Teasing, Winter, crafting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2016-12-13
Packaged: 2018-09-02 21:20:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8683786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaiseYourVoice/pseuds/mckvch
Summary: "I don't have to be Christian to make and enjoy decorations. Also, I'm a vampire anyway so I couldn't even celebrate Hanukkah because as far as I know we vampires are highly flammable which makes lighting candles slightly difficult. And saying the prayers might prove to be difficult as well because I'm still not even able to say His name," Simon explained while turning around again to grab a small paintbrush and dip it into the puddle of brown paint sitting on a paper plate next to him."I can't argue with that. And what exactly is it you're crafting?" Raphael tried to stick to sounding and acting annoyed but it was admittedly amusing that Simon chose to craft to pass the time because he was usually full of nervous energy and now he actually sat down to occupy himself with something calm.





	

Raphael stared at the various things scattered across the room and it was no surprise to see a certain fledgeling in the middle of this mess.

"What are you doing?!" Raphael glared at Simon, arms crossed in front of his chest and eyes narrowed. He just got back from a meeting with a few other clan leaders and had planned on spending the rest of the night in his room. In peace. Reading a book. Not standing in the door of one of the smaller lounges of the Hotel Dumort, scolding their fledgeling _once again_ for acting like a child and spreading various kinds of...crafting materials?

"Rapha, heyy," Simon greeted him with a grin, twisting a little in his sitting position to look at the clan leader instead of facing with his back to the door. Raphael frowned when he saw a smudge of brown paint on the fledgeling's cheek and the fingertips of the hand he waved with seemed to have been dipped in colour as well.

"What.are.you.doing??" He repeated his question and entered the room, careful not to step on anything that might ruin his shoes.

"I'm crafting decorations for Christmas, obviously."

"You're Jewish, you don't even celebrate Christmas," Raphael pointed out drily but Simon just shrugged with a grin. The clan leader probably should have expected this answer but he still sighed and shook his head at the fledgeling.

"I don't have to be Christian to make and enjoy decorations. Also, I'm a vampire anyway so I couldn't even celebrate Hanukkah because as far as I know we vampires are highly flammable which makes lighting candles slightly difficult. And saying the prayers might prove to be difficult as well because I'm still not even able to say His name," Simon explained while turning around again to grab a small paintbrush and dip it into the puddle of brown paint sitting on a paper plate next to him.

"I can't argue with that. And what exactly is it you're _crafting_?" Raphael tried to stick to sounding and acting annoyed but it was admittedly amusing that Simon chose to craft to pass the time because he was usually full of nervous energy and now he actually sat down to occupy himself with something calm.

"Reindeers; look!" Simon answered with a childlike smile and pointed at the coffee table next to him that was covered in old newspapers and two of the reindeer were already placed on it to dry. Raphael squinted a little and cocked his head, amusement now pretty obvious in his expression.

"Reindeers made of toilet paper rolls, really? Fancy decorations," Raphael commented, voice dripping with sarcasm and a barely suppressed huff of laughter, and pressed his lips together to keep them from curling upwards when Simon glared at him with a pout.

"Oh, I'm sorry my crafting material isn't expensive enough for our snobby leader," he replied, rolling his eyes and this time Raphael couldn't stop a soft laughter from spilling over his lips, causing Simon's eyes to widen in surprise.

"So you actually are able to laugh."

"Yes, but sadly you're unable to shut up, _idiota_ ," Raphael sighed again and walked closer, contemplating for a moment before he actually decided to sit down next to the fledgeling and reached for one of the remaining toilet rolls, Simon's disbelieving gaze following his every move.

"Are you seriously--"

" _Cállate_! Finish your dumb reindeer," Raphael interrupted with a strict voice and Simon shut his mouth with an indignant little noise in the back of his throat. He kept his mouth shut, though, and decided to go back to his work because the paint was already drying and he wasn't even finished colouring the whole role yet.

Simon still couldn't believe that the clan leader actually sat down next to him and joined him in crafting Christmas decorations but he didn't want to ruin the moment and scare Raphael off by commenting on it and so they just sat side by side, working on the decorations.

He didn't even pay attention to what Raphael was doing until the clan leader got up again after almost half an hour and huffed at the black paint clinging to the pale taupe-tinged skin of his hands.

"What did you--Wait, are those _bats_?? Do you actually just prove you have some kind of sense of humour?" Simon asked and an amused laugh bubbled up in his chest at the sight of the two actually pretty damn well made and almost adorable looking bats made of toilet paper rolls. By the leader of the New York vampire clan. Raphael had crafted paper roll bats!

"Seems like I did, baby."

Simon was glad it had been a while since he fed because this way his cheeks only coloured a slight hint of a pinkish shade instead of full on blushing at this pet name - well, as much as a vampire could blush, anyway. It didn't happen too often that Raphael called him _baby_ instead of _fledgeling_ but when it did, it never sounded the way everyone else said this nickname for him. When Raphael called him baby it always sent a shiver down Simon's spine and gave him the illusion of his unbeating heart fluttering in his chest.

"They look damn adorable."

" _Igual que tú_ ," Raphael replied smoothly and Simon barely managed to keep his eyes from widening at the words. He might have forgotten most of his mother tongue but he still understood a few things and he had picked up on some words again since being around Raphael and him mumbling insults and the likes in Spanish all the time. It was probably best to not let the clan leader know that he did understand him sometimes.

"Can't you just insult me in a language that I understand?" Simon asked instead of giving away that he did know Raphael had actually said _just like you_ , basically calling the fledgeling adorable without batting an eyelash because he thought Simon didn't understand.

"Where would be the fun in that, _cariño_?" Raphael smirked and leant down, pressing his fingertips to Simon's cheek to mix the smudge of brown with some of the black he had used for the bats before he turned around and left the room without another word. Simon was kind of shocked by the unusually playful mood the clan leader had been in but his lips stretched intro a stupid grin soon after the door fell shut because Raphael had called him _adorable_ and _sweetheart_.

Simon honestly contemplated taking some kind of online language course to freshen up his Spanish so he could understand even more of Raphael's babbling in the future without the other knowing. Maybe one day he could even start returning the compliments, hoping he could figure out the right pronunciation so he wouldn't sound like a complete fool.

**Author's Note:**

>  _Cállate_ \- Shut up  
>  _Igual que tú_ \- Just like you  
>  _Cariño_ \- Darling/Sweetheart


End file.
